With Friends Like These
by AshleighAishwarya
Summary: What happens when the Dragonborn meets up with her old friend, the Guild Master? Features my two OCs, Kayleigh Leanne and Carissa Larue from "Runaway With My Heart" and "Stealing Hearts" respectively.


**A/N: So who missed me? **

**Hi, everyone! In the midst of writing my Halo fic and part-time job, I found myself in the need to dish out something else. I updated this everytime I felt uninspired for my Halo fic so now, it's been finally done! :) **

**This was something I've wanted to do for a very long time. At first, I had this whole idea that Kay and Carissa were look-alikes and Kay simply caught Carissa trying to rob her place in Windhelm and they would strike up a conversation. I even wrote down a few good lines for it in my notebook. **

**BUT THEN****…**** SUDDEN REVEALATION****…****. I remembered that I said Kay was a thief briefly and decided, "PERFECT". How else can the future Dragonborn and future Guild Master meet? Of course****…****it's still COMPLETELY AU ****–**** Kay and Carissa can't exactly meet, given the nature of both stories they come from.**

**So all in all, this is something short and silly, but I hope you guys still enjoy! :)**

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**Location: Hjerim, Windhelm  
25****th**** of Evening Star, 4E 201  
11:04pm**

A curtain of rain beat down from the heavens; lightning and thunder raged with fury. Despite that, the Dragonborn, Kayleigh Leanne was sleeping soundly without a single peep. The same… could not go for her pup, Vigilance though – he was snoring like a pig.

Yet, something woke the warrior dog out of his beauty sleep. Guess even past his snoring, he was staying true to his name.

Lifting his head up, he took a whiff of the cool air. Something was off.

_Someone was in the house_

_Seriously? _The pup gave an annoyed grunt. _The last time, it was the Dark Brotherhood. Who is it now? _At the moment, he was sleeping at Kayleigh's feet. So he got to his own feet, trotted over to her face, and gave a traditional lick to her cheek.

It was (and had always) worked. "Awwwwwww! Vigilance! What's going on this time?" Her half-closed eyes barely caught his gaze. "If it's Molag Bal, tell him that his attempts at seducing me are not worth my sleep. He can try again tomorrow…" So murmuring, she plopped her head against the pillow.

_Oh, Kay! It's not Molag! And the last time was the Dark Brotherhood, do you not remember? Just get up! _And the Nord received another lick.

"Talos…! Okay, okay!" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I get it…" Heaving a heavy, annoyed sigh, she reached for her beloved Mace of Molag Bal on the nightstand and got to her feet.

Trying to blink the sleep away, she peered past her doorway. Not a single soul. Vigilance stuck close to her side as they exited the bedroom. The creaking of the wood was _so _not helping their sneak skill. Kayleigh did not hear anything from downstairs, but Vigilance's persistence was telling her that someone or something was in her house.

At the top of the staircase, she could view that her front door was shut. Taking the slowest and quietest of steps, they both began to proceed down the stairs; the wood squeaking, once again, not helping.

Creeping down the stairs, Kayleigh halted when she spotted a pair of legs at her dining table.

A silent gasp came to her. But wait… _what kind of thief__…__ sits at a dining table? _

Well, if only Kayleigh saw _who _those pairs of legs belonged to, it would not be much of a surprise.

"You were never a good thief, Kay, let alone a sneak. It was good thing you quit when you did."

Another silent gasp._ A thief who knows my name? Well__…__ I _am _the Dragonborn. Everybody knows my name__... _That voice was brash, with a hint of snotty. Only one woman had it and Kayleigh never thought to run into her again.

Running down the stairs, the Dragonborn met with the mysterious woman.

"… Carissa?!"

The raven-haired Breton, clad in her Master Guild's armor, sat at Kayleigh's dining table, one leg over the other and a goblet of Black-Briar mead in her hand. "Good to see you too, Kay! Oh, and I see you've got yourself a pup. Vigilant little thing. I think you and Maya can be good friends, little guy. Or girl. I don't know; you got to help me out with that one, Kay."

"Vigilance is a boy… wait…" Kayleigh needed to get back on track first. "Carissa, what are you even _doing _here? How did you get into my house? … And is that… a wolf standing next to you?"

"WHOA. WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA… WHOA. Hang _on_, Kay," Carissa Larue put down the goblet. "Maya is not _just _a wolf. She is a divine creature! A born killer! Hircine would _kill _to have her as his sidekick!"

"And if you haven't changed even after all these years, I'm guessing you were the one who made her into a killer."

Carissa thought about that for a quick second before grabbing an empty goblet and the bottle of Black-Briar Mead. "Yep. You're right. Mead?" She proceeded to pour a goblet for her.

Rolling her green eyes, she sighed once again, walking up to the dining table and sat next to the Breton. "Fine." She plopped the Mace of Molag Bal on the table as well, eliciting narrowed eyebrows from the leader of the Thieves Guild.

"Since when did _you _start hanging out with Daedric Princes?"

"Oh this? It's just the Mace of Molag Bal,"

"I know it is. What are _you _doing with it?"

Ah, the story of how the Dragonborn got tangled with Molag Bal. "Well, long story short, I was in Markarth and my tendency to be helpful backfired. Molag spoke to me and commanded me to kill his rival's priest or else that'd be the end of me. And I _had _to stay alive; dragons were attacking and I'm supposedly the world's savior!"

"Yeah, about that…" Carissa placed her goblet down on the table before asking her serious question. "WHO would have thought that little Kayleigh Leanne would be the Dragonborn?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. That's how you knew I was in Skyrim?"

"Yep."

Kayleigh raised one unimpressed eyebrow. "Nice of you to come and visit. You couldn't have done that like a normal human being?"

Carissa adopted an expression that said she was offended. "Woman, I'm Carissa Larue. I do what I _want_. And besides – you know I like to make an impact!"

"Same old Carissa," Kayleigh shook her head slightly. "So you're in the Thieves Guild now, I see."

"I run it."

"That was my guess. You were extraordinary anyways,"

"Why thank you, legendary Dragonborn!"

"Cut it out. I'm having mixed feelings about this!"

"What, about me being in the Guild?" Carissa brought both her hands to the center of her chest and gasped dramatically. "Aw, Kay! I never knew you cared! But I'm _fine_, sweetie!"

"It's still a problem for me." Kayleigh said, ignoring her.

"How's _that_?"

"The Civil War's over. The Stormcloaks won. When I marry Ulfric and become High Queen-"

The Breton held up one hand instantly. "Whoa, whoa, WHOA. Hold _up_. Ulfric? As in Ulfric Stormcloak?"

"Yeah…?

Carissa's jaw dropped to the ground. "When this _did _happen?!"

Kayleigh's forehead creased with major confusion. "After the Battle for Solitude. Why?"

"_Ulfric Stormcloak_?! Seriously?!"

Now Kayleigh was the offended one. "Why not?!"

"First off, he's _old_!" Carissa exclaimed, looking a little disgusted.

"No, he's not!"

"He's got to be at least 20 years your senior!"

"So?"

"So you love him? He makes you happy? It's not creepy?"

Kayleigh leaned forward, eyes staring into Carissa's. "You got a problem with my Nord, short stack?" Oh, she could be ready to punch this Breton right then and there.

Carissa brought her body back, hands up in truce. "Hey! No, I don't. In fact, I've got a Nord of my own," She told her with a bright smile.

"Oh no! Who's the poor sucker?" Kayleigh asked, chuckling.

"Shut it, Kay!"

"He's from the Guild as well?"

"Yeah. Second-in-command. Name's Brynjolf," Then she sighed dreamily before declaring to the world, "And he's the most _beautiful _thing in all of Nirn!"

"WAIT. _Brynjolf_?"

Carissa quickly turned her head to her old friend, awed. "You know Bryn?"

Did Kayleigh _know _him? "The red-headed oaf had me frame a man just so I can get the info I needed!"

"HEY," Carissa glared at her. "Only_ I _get to call him an oaf!"

"Unbelievable…" Kayleigh grabbed her goblet and drank it down.

Carissa held both her hands up. "Fine! So we _both _don't approve of our lovers. Big deal! I wasn't looking for your approval anyway,"

"Neither was I," Came an irritated reply as the Dragonborn poured another goblet of mead for herself. "So we're good."

Then, Carissa turned her body to face the kitchen, smiling to herself before saying, "But seriously, Kay, it's been a while. We may have been friends for that one year, but you were still the greatest friend I had. I was sad when you left for that job cause I really did care about you," She turned her head to the Dragonborn, eyes filled with a hint of sadness. "You and me – we had our lives ruined when we met,"

Kayleigh turned her full body to Carissa, giving the Breton a smile, one that had a little bit of compassion in it. "And that's why we bonded instantly. That's why we understood each other. That's why we worked well with each other. And the job? I have _you _to thank for it. You were the one who helped me get the job as a blacksmith's apprentice!"

"And it was a good thing I did," Carissa brought back her smirk. "You weren't getting anywhere by being a thief!"

Kayleigh rolled her eyes playfully, unable to contain her big grin.

The Guild Master however, chuckled amiably. "I kid. But you're welcome, Kay," She said, picking up her goblet. "To the Dragonborn,"

Kayleigh did the same with her own wide grin. "To the Guild Master. And to our friendship."

"To our friendship."

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**A/N: Well, that's that! I hope you guys liked it! :) It was fun to relive the characters of Kay and Carissa once again. And one day, I will take the time and dedicate it to RWMH and rewrite the whole thing since my writing's gotten much better! **

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! :3  
**


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